[SQ_Bronco]

Yeah, I killed one too (the only one I tried to debuck). So it isn't as easy as everyone makes it out to be. An autopsy showed that the bottom is glued like crazy now, so maybe dayton QC caught up with the fact that the shields were too easy to get off and forced usher or whoever makes the drivers to start gluing them more to spec? There was definitely a lot more glue between the shield and the bucking magnet than there was between the frame and the magnet.

I'm really not that impressed with the overall build quality of the drivers either- they sound great, as long as they are crossed really low, but really have that "cut corners for cost" feel to them. Maybe I'm just not used to metal coned drivers but I expected more from all the rave reviews.

 

[SQ_Bronco]

I bought 4 RS180's for my HT and a pair of rs270's to try as midbass in my bronco.

Anyway I didn't say they look like crap. I actually really like the way they look, once mounted, especially the 270's, and double especially for the price. Although the anodized cone is not dyed as deeply black as i would have hoped. They just aren't as sturdily built as I expected, given the reviews. I am disappointed by how easily the cone deforms, by the globs of glue in strange places on the back of the cone and the poor quality of the glue used, by the way the voice coil is attached (apparently glued) to the cone with a ~1/8" overlap, and by the way the magnet was attached to the frame with glue + 4 cast iron pins. These pins are clearly inadequate and seem to be what are failing in shear when people hit the speakers with a hammer or in my case drop them, causing the voice coil misalignments.

 

[SQ_Bronco]

Yeah, I've had a long day too... I can tell that crankiness is getting the best of me. I'm going to modify the "strange places" comment because upon closer inspection it is actually on the inside of the voice coil former/cone attach point which is a reasonable place for glue to be. however it is still very unevenly applied. I couldn't get a picture of it to come out but there is ~1" where there is no glue and then glue the rest of the way around in a thin strip that is 100% on the voice coil former in some places, 100% on the cone in others, and in some places actually gluing the two together.

Here are some pictures of what I meant by "different amounts of glue on the shield/magnet compared to what was earlier posted". It is very heavily gooped on the shield/bucking magnet attachment point, and very thinly and unevenly applied to the frame/motor magnet. You can also clearly see the holes for the alignment pins i was talking about- if they had used brass or steel bolts through the magnet into these, they would be much more effective than glue alone.

 

[SQ_Bronco]

I don't mean to diss dayton or parts express or these drivers- I spend more money at parts express each month than I do on food, and I really do think they are some of the best values out there for the money and some fine speakers regardless of cost. If you search here and ECA I was one of, if not THE, first people to recommend them and their cousins, and still do very highly. I just don't recommend you hit them witha hammer, drop them, or touch the cones with long fingernails.

The main point of this whole thing was to try to explain why some people have problems getting the bucking magnets and shields to come off of the drivers...